A father and son with more than 50 years experience helping youth baseball leagues in Tooele County were honored on opening day by the Stansbury Park Cal Ripken League.

Out on the mound were father Bill Nunley with his son Ken; Bill handed the ball to Ken, who threw out the first pitch on Saturday.

“We’re a volunteer organization, and those two have demonstrated over the years what it means to be a volunteer. They are role models for kids growing up,” said Mike Soderborg, president of the league. “Bill had taught Ken the fundamental values of volunteering along with the fundamentals of baseball. Ken then passed those values on to his sons who volunteer day-in and day-out. Bill now has a great-grandson who plays catcher in our league.”

Ken said his dad coached him and his brother Dale in the minor and major leagues in Grantsville.

“My dad actually started coaching in the early days around 1960 in Grantsville. Later, he helped me coach my kids in Tooele,” Ken said.

Ken is also helping to build the Stansbury youth baseball program along with Soderborg and Vice President Stuart Clark. Ken serves on the board of directors and helps coach teams with his sons Mike, Brady and AJ.

Soderborg and Clark are two of the main reasons the Stansbury league is starting to flourish, Ken said.

“In addition to overseeing the administrative operations of the league, both men are also involved as coaches, groundskeepers, umpires, snack bar workers and the numerous other duties it takes to have our league prosper,” Ken said.

The league is branding itself as a superb league with the Superman logo on the front of the players’ uniforms.

Games are held Monday through Thursday with practices on Friday.

About 300 kids signed up to participate in various leagues, with a few more added after they watched the opening day on Saturday.

The league includes four major league teams, seven minor league teams, six machine-pitch teams and seven tee ball teams. Players ages 4-12 participate in the league. Stansbury Park would soon like to add a Babe Ruth League for players ages 13-18.

Mark directs all editorial coverage of sports in addition to reporting on a wide range of events from high school football to international racing. He has a wealth of journalism experience, having worked for four other newspapers in the state. Mark grew up in Tooele County and graduated from Grantsville High School and Brigham Young University.

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